Nehemiah hears the plight of Jerusalem
The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah was a high-ranking official in the Persian government. He was the king’s cupbearer (1:11). As such, he was not a mere household servant but rather had a status equal to that of a member of the presidential cabinet in our government. Presenting the king’s cup and protecting him against poisoning were a ceremonial part of Nehemiah’s job, but he was also a trusted and influential advisor to the king. At the beginning of the book of Nehemiah, he was on duty in Susa, one of the Persian capital cities, located in what is now southern Iran. He received some visitors from faraway Jerusalem. These men may have been an official delegation from Jerusalem, or they may have come for family or business purposes. If the words “one of my brothers” mean that Hanani was a real brother of Nehemiah, rather than simply a fellow Jew, it is more likely that this was not an official delegation.
It seems that Nehemiah learned of conditions in Jerusalem simply by making a casual inquiry. He was shocked to hear of the appalling situation there. Apparently, he had assumed that everything was fine since the mission of Ezra, about 12 years earlier. He had underestimated the persistence of Israel’s enemies and the continued physical and spiritual weakness of the returnees. Nearly one hundred years after the return under Zerubbabel, Jerusalem still was not a secure city. Either the walls had never been rebuilt at all, or whatever work had been done had been undone by Israel’s enemies. Even the restored temple, so vital to the nation, was exposed and was easy prey for enemies. The people were demoralized.
Nehemiah was grief-stricken by what he heard. But he didn’t despair. Instead, he gave evidence of his character as he turned to the only reliable source of help, the Lord his God.